So What?
by fallen-anqel
Summary: One phone call from her past was all it took to make life a mess. Now Kagome's bumping into faces, old and new. And just who is this Takemura character anyway? Well ... life has a lot in store for Kagome and if she isn't ready for it ... So What?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer : **I do not own _Inuyasha_ or any of its components.

**AN : **Hi guys. I know I already have another fic going on but I'm having a hard time getting that one going again. So … I've decided to just write a new one on the side for now … hopefully find some new inspiration while I'm at it. Well, hope you like this one more than _Long Time No See_ ;D.

**So What? **

**- fallen-anqel -**

**PROLOGUE**

**W.A.I. : Way After the Incident**

"_Hmm hmmm hmmmmm hmm … la dee dah dah dah…._"

There was a pause as our heroine took a gulp of water. She had just come back home from her evening jogs, iPod and trusty water bottle at hand. She twirled around her living room and hit the message playback button on her answering machine while unplugging one of her ears. Still humming, she made her way past unpacked boxes and random objects on the floor.

"Man, it is _hot_ out there," she murmured as she made her way to her favorite appliance in the whole apartment, the refrigerator.

"…First new message," the answering machine droned. "_BEEP. _Kagome, dear? This is your mother calling. I guess you're not home right now. I'm just calling to see how you're doing in your new place. If you need any help moving around your things, I'm sure Souta won't mind helping. Well, I'll call you back later, okay? Bye, honey, I love you. _BEEP_."

"Love you too, mama." Kagome mumbled as she opened up her refrigerator. She hadn't exactly gotten around to buying anything to fill it up with. "There has to be something around here to snack on."

Kagome had officially moved out of her old home last Friday, just two days ago. She had technically moved out when during college, where she lived at the Water Street dorm. She had taken a bunch of her things from home and moved them out but she wasn't quite done yet. She basically came home during brakes and slept in her old room that basically only had a bed, dresser, and a few other things that she hadn't taken with her.

Her college years were pretty crazy now that she looked back on them. She had met Jakotsu there, among quite a few other colorful personalities. Well, anyhow, after college, she had taken everything with her and went out to pursue her career. She had had a short stay at home for a while but after landing her job at an advertising joint with Jakotsu, she had decided to move out. Her Dad had left her family a hefty amount of money and so she moved into a flat of her own. She was contemplating on having a roommate though … the flat was pretty big and she _did_ have that extra room to spare.

Note to self: put up an ad concerning roommate.

"…_BEEP. _Kagome!" Jakotsu's familiar beckoning echoed throughout her new home. "You _have_ to learn to pick up your phone! Anyways, me and the girls were wondering if you were free tonight. We're gonna go and hit up that new nightclub tonight, _Kugutsu _**(1)**; you know, the one with those freaky little puppets hanging around. I _pulled some strings_—haha, d'ya get it **(2)**? Yeah … anyways, I got us on the list. Thank me later, babe; I better see you tonight. Oh, oh! You can wear that skimpy top I bought you last week. Ciao! _BEEP_."

"_Sure_," Kagome rolled her eyes and slammed the refrigerator door while tugging the freezer handle with her free hand.

Jakotsu was constantly trying to get her to go out more. She had had her little streak as a crazy party girl during college but she had calmed down a bit after landing her job. She couldn't just go around partying all the time and showing up late for work, now could she? Not like Jakotsu did anyways; he spent money like they grew from trees. He had quite the impressive background though, so he probably could afford it. He was the second eldest son from a family of three (two boys and one girl) and his parents were into showbiz … never really told her the specifics, though.

Kagome had been quite taken with him when she first met him. He was quite the looker, a bit on the feminine side but that didn't really matter. He was kind and it didn't help that he was good-looking. They were best friends and had that … connection, you know? Call it a very messed-up gaydar but ever since her little thing with Jakotsu, she found herself having crushes on men … who just so happened to turn out to be gay. And ever since Gay Man #4 (Jakotsu being the first), she gave up men forever … at least until she found a nice straight one.

"_BEEP…_ _BEEP_."

"The _heck_," Kagome grumbled. Who in the world waited for her whole answering machine greeting to end before hanging up? She had been getting a few of these throughout the past week and frankly, it was starting to freak her out. "If it's Souta, I'll _kill_ him."

With that, Kagome pulled the last popsicle out of the freezer and proceeded to rip off its wrapper.

"_BEEP_ ... _BEEP_."

"_BEEP … BEEP_."

"What is this?" Kagome curiously wandered over to her answering machine and leant over it with her popsicle at hand.

"_BEEP … BEEP."_

_"BEEP … BEEP." _ Taking a bite out of her popsicle, she leaned in closer.

_"BEEP … BEEP. End of new messages." _

"Strange," Kagome said.

Suddenly, the phone rang. With a yelp, Kagome stepped back and dropped her popsicle. Looking at Caller ID, she saw that it was a restricted number. She let the phone ring for a while with her hand hovering over the speakerphone button. Just as her lengthy answering machine greeting was about to start, she hastily pushed the button.

"Moshi moshi?" she ventured.

"Kagome!"

"Jakotsu!" Kagome shouted. "You scared me half to death."

"What are you talking about, babe?" he drawled. "Anyways, why are you still at home, little missy? You're supposed to meet me and the girls outside _Kugutsu _in 30 minutes."

"Sorry, Jak, but I don't think I can make it. I mean, you didn't exactly give me any prior notice."

"Kagome," Jakotsu said sternly. "You are going to come here right this instant and you are going to have the time of your life!"

"You're gonna have to hold on for a sec," she retorted. "Someone's on the other line."

"Kagome! Kag--." He was cut off with the touch of a button.

"Moshi moshi?"

"…" Only silence greeted her.

"Moshi … moshi?" she repeated. "Wait a sec … is this the person who's been calling me and hanging up without leaving a message? Listen, if you're some kind of stalker or something like that--."

"… Kagome?" A chill ran down her spine. The voice was frighteningly familiar. It stirred something inside her that she had tried to suppress for quite a while now.

It couldn't be … could it?

"Kagome … is that you?" Kagome gasped and pushed away from the end table she was leaning over. The cradle was knocked off the table and the phone spun across the room.

"—that girl better get off the other line soon," Jakotsu grumbled. "Kagome!" Kagome huffed and fought to get her breathing back to normal. She made her way to the phone and picked it up.

"Ja-jakotsu?" Her voice was shaky and her hands trembled as she spoke.

"Kagome?" All the fun was drained out of his voice. "What happened?"

"I think … I think I will be meeting you after all. Give me two hours tops."

"That's my girl." You could hear the smile in his voice.

"Well," Kagome started. "I better change. I'll call you later."

"See ya, babe."

With that, Kagome hung up and let out a deep breath. She picked up the cradle and set it on the end table; placing the phone back down onto its cradle and turning off the answering machine. She stared at the long forgotten popsicle on the floor; it was starting to melt and a pink puddle had gathered around it. Wordlessly walking over it, she made her way to the bathroom.

Kagome leant over the bathroom counter and stared at her reflection, creeping closer and closer until her nose touched the cool glass. Her eyes flickered about until they settled on two puncture marks on the side of her neck. She gently caressed the scars and she saw a flash of gold; moments later she was on the floor; crying and heaving for breath.

"Kami," she muttered while wiping away her tears. "Why are you calling me, Takemura **(3)**? After all these years … why now?"

Kagome sighed and gripped onto the counter, hoisting herself up. Looking at her puffy eyed reflection, she smirked. She hadn't cried like this in _years_ … heck, she hadn't cried in years period. It felt a bit … relieving; like all this lingering grief had been sucked out of her body. She took a deep breath before letting it all out again.

"Pull yourself together, girl," she told herself. "You got through this before, you can do it again"

She then turned on the water to take a shower, scalding hot, just the way she liked it.

**end.**

**(1) Kugutsu : puppet . **

**(2) **Puppet, strings, you get it?

**(3) **Last name of the person that called Kagome just before

**AN : **Hope you liked it you guys. Why does tab not work! It's very bothersome -o-;; Well, feel free to leave reviews with criticism or praise on this new fic. Thanks and I'll update soon ( thought ahead and already started next chapter ). Bye ;D


	2. Disaster Strikes

**Disclaimer : **I do not own _Inuyasha_ or any of its components.

**AN : **It took a while for me to figure out how to publish a new story -o-;;. Everything changed so much since I published _Long Time No See_. This fic sucks and thus the no reviews but whatever, I want to finish writing it anyways … or maybe I should just stop writing because it's not like anyone reads this anyways.

**So What?**

**- fallen-anqel -**

**Chapter One : So What … If Disaster Strikes?**

**W.B.I. : Way Before the Incident**

"Kagome," Souta called. "Hurry up!"

Kagome laughed. "What's the rush? We have all summer."

It was the summer of her second to last year in high school** (1)**. Every summer, the Higurashi children flew back to Japan and stayed over at the shrine with Mama and Jii-chan **(2) **and with every summer came the dreaded annual family gathering. Every family gathering consisted of staying over at their seaside castle, their rather spacious beach house over at Katase. Uncles, aunts, cousins, nieces, nephews, and friends of the family flew ( or drove ) in from Hawaii, New York, Europe, or wherever else they lived to make it to the event.

Kagome wasn't particularly fond of The Gathering but lately, she was starting to enjoy them. Since she was the oldest child out of the jumble of kids, she was _always_ stuck baby-sitting. She had no free time to herself and hey, she was only eleven the first time she was stuck with the kids; what kind of normal eleven year old enjoyed having to worry about an armful of disaster magnets?

Well, anyways, now the kids were older and Souta was old enough to take care of the kids so she did have some breaks here and there. And yeah, it did help that now she had a darling niece and nephew to take care of, which she didn't mind at all.

"Okay, kids," Kagome said in an authoritative manner. "It is now 11 o'clock. We will regroup at 3 to eat lunch and we'll go back to the house at 5, okay?"

A chorus of 'hai's came at her wake. "Good. Now, you guys pick who you want to play with; Souta, Nazuna **(3)**, Serina **(4)**, or me. Group off right now!"

Kagome watched as the kids fumbled out of the line and filed into separate little lines behind the designated leaders, counting and recounting each head as they passed. You might call her paranoid but she just couldn't afford to be anything less. Thinking back to all those incidents throughout the past years, chills ran down her spine. Like that time one time when Serina's little sister, Suzuna **(5)**, was left behind at shore and a search party found her three hours later, crying and missing a shoe. And that other time when little Shippou was discovered playing along the shoreline and almost drowned when a wave came … yeah, nobody ever figured out where that shoe had gone to and little Shippou wasn't allowed out for quite a while after that.

"Off you go!" Kagome shouted. "You have less than four hours left!" The kids scattered and three groups of kids could be found running about in opposite directions. Kagome sighed and looked at who she had to play with. Shippou and Shiori **(6)**, surprise, surprise. She was sure she would be by herself if it didn't happen to be a fact that she was their favorite person in the world … besides their mummies and daddies, that is.

"Man," she said as she grabbed their hands. "I am losing my cool."

"No you're not," Shippou said. "You're really cool, Kagome." Shiori nodded fervently on her other side.

"Thanks," Kagome said good naturedly. But coming from two five-year-olds, it didn't feel that great. What happened to the good old days when all the kids wanted to play with her? Well, less work for her had to be good didn't it.

"What do you want to do, guys?" Kagome asked them, swinging their arms as they walked back to their spot of sand.

"I want to make a sandcastle!" Shiori exclaimed.

"That's great!" Kagome fumbled around her beach bag and pulled out a few sand buckets and shovels. "Are you up to it, Shippou?"

"Hmmm…" He put his finger to his chin in deep thought. "Only if I get to destroy it afterwards!"

"Now, Shippou, I don't think--."

"OK!"

Kagome sent a startled glace Shiori's way. She had already started to set the parameters for the castle. What happened to all the sweet little girls in the world that defended their sandcastles and forced the boys to be knights saving them from the horrible dragons **(7)**? Kids these days were too violent.

"I'll go get some water," Kagome said as she grabbed a bucket and brushed the sand off her sarong. "Don't move you guys."

"Okay!" the kids shouted and continued to pave a good platform for the castle. Kagome laughed as made her way to the water, passing several kids on her way.

"Hey!" she shouted as Souta bumped into her. "Where are your kids?"

"Relax." He pointed to the side. "They're right over there."

"Where?" By the time she had turned back around, he was gone.

"Disrespectful little punk," she grumbled as she scooped up a bucket of water.

"CHARGE!"

"What!" Kagome whipped her head around and saw a bunch of little boys heading her way, Souta at the lead.

'Someone will die today,' she thought as she was pushed into the waves.

Sputtering, she resurfaced and wiped her hair out of her face. "SOUTA!" she shouted. The boys laughed and made their getaway.

"Are you okay, Kagome-chan?" Shippou and Shiori had made their way to the water and stood in front of her.

"I brought you a towel." Kagome took it from Shiori's extended hand and grumbled her thanks.

"Look at Suzuna!" Shippou shouted. "She's swimming all the way out there!"

"Suzuna … doesn't know how to swim!"

In full panic, Kagome looked around frantically and spotted Suzuna off the shore. To an onlooker, it might look like she was singing, but in truth, ever since that incident at the beach, Suzuna didn't really do water.

"Ohmigod, ohmigod, ohmigod!" Kagome rambled around. "Why isn't she with Serina! SERINA!"

By now, a bunch of the kids had gathered around after hearing Kagome's shouts. Among them, Kagome spotted Suzuna laughing with a little girl with pigtails whom she didn't recognize **(8)**, but now wasn't the time to lecture Serina on playing with strangers.

"What's wrong?" Suzuna asked her.

"Why isn't Suzuna with you!"

Kagome was going ballistic; her system was supposed to be foolproof! The kids weren't supposed to stray from their leaders and the leaders were supposed to stay with the kids! How could this have happened!

"She was … right here," Suzuna mumbled off and drew her eyes to the water. "Oh my God! Suzuna! She can't swim!"

"Okay, okay," Kagome reasoned. "We need to calm down. Someone give me a floaty and someone go get a lifeguard. Did you not hear me! Go, GO!" Kagome snatched a noodle floaty from one of the kids and ran into the water.

'This is not happening,' she thought to herself. It was simply just not possible. _Every_ year something just _had_ to happen. Oh my God … what if she didn't make it there on time? What if Suzuna died! No, no; she couldn't think like this. Everything was going to be alright and they would go and eat and then they'd go home, safe and sound.

"Suzuna!" Kagome shouted in-between her strokes. She was just up ahead; just a little further.

"Kag—kagome," Suzuna sputtered. She was frantically flailing her arms about and kicking her feet, trying to keep her head above the water. The waves were steadily passing over her head and pushing her down.

"Suzuna, you have to calm down," Kagome instructed and sent the floaty her way. "Grab onto it and hold on tight! Don't let go, Suzuna!"

Suzuna nodded obediently and latched onto the floaty, tears mixing with the water trailing from her hair.

"Kick to shore, Suzuna!"

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine! Now go!" With a little push, Suzuna got kicking.

Hearing a strange, hollow sound, Kagome turned around and saw just about the hugest wave in the big blue sea. Why, oh _why_,did these things happen to her? Just when things couldn't get any worse, it did.

"Crap." She lunged towards Suzuna and literally tossed her up and over the oncoming wave. As for her, well … sometimes it just doesn't pay to be the hero.

All she remembered before blacking out was a flash of white and gold … alluring, mystifying gold.

**end.**

**(1)** She's going to be a senior

**(2)** I was going to make it so that Kagome, Souta, and their mother live in the States while their grandfather still lives in Japan but I think he's too old to be alone xP I know that in the prior chapter I wrote that Kagome moved out of her house and … yeah it'll be explained later

**(3)** She's the girl from the episode with the spider demon and Inuyasha turning human for the first time

**(4)** One of the girls that wanted to learn how to become a demon exterminator under Sango's instruction

**(5)** The other girl from prior footnote

**(6)** The niece and nephew from before and Shiori is that bat hanyou from that episode with the barrier around the village

**(7)** Thinking of last years games

**(8)** Will come in play later on

**(9)** Those long things that lifeguards carry around … kind of like a floaty

**AN : **Give me some love guys! Reviews would be much appreciated and by next chapter if I have none … I'll just stop writing all together. At least this story anyway.


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